Some of us have become so cynical that they cannot notice anything positive around them.  Any normal beholder will appreciate the full moon night, cynics will only comment upon the shadow of the moon. Indeed, Kashmir is going through the worst period in its history, yet there are so many shining examples which reaffirm one’s faith in the society. Didn't this period of turmoil coincide with that of Amarnath Yatra? Two-month long Yatra has just passed by; approximately half- a-million Hindu yatris visited Kashmir during this volatile period, thankfully all of them are back home, safe and sound. Kashmir despite great hardships has remained true to its culture and ethos. Isn’t this a matter of great satisfaction and pride? A section of the Delhi press is now busy in churning the stories of threats to the Sikh community, which incidentally the influential Sikh bodies have described as ‘handiwork of miscreants’. Asking for a proper probe these Sikh bodies have not ruled out the possibility “we can’t rule out that some agencies are behind this.” It is really encouraging that Muslims in the valley have reassured the Sikh community; ‘they need not to worry they are the part and parcel of the Kashmiri society.’ Sikh brothers for that matter any other citizen of Kashmir irrespective of his/her faith is equal citizen of Kashmir having equal rights, if any citizen suffers from sense of insecurity, Kashmiri Muslims  will be failing in upholding not societal responsibilities, but obligations of their faith as well.

 At this critical hour, a section of youth moved by the depth of trauma is engaged in selfless service to the traumatized society, they share some heartwarming stories. While appeal for blood was issued for twenty, literally hundred responded. People belonging to lower middle class group despite huge economic hardships have tried to share the burden of their brethren in distress, is really praiseworthy. “Whenever a person being asked for donation for medicine responded with such warmth that it was really humbling”, witnessing this deep sense of responsibility, who can deny that we are not a one nation struggling for one cause? Mohallas—vicinities around hospitals providing succor to the needy is perhaps an old tradition, being practiced since 1990; youth coming forward to share the burden is quite fulfiling. It is the anonymous youth along with the concerned citizen, who are the unsung heroes of the present crisis, regardless of their limited recourses they have done more than what they could do. Some socio religions organizations also contributed in a great deal. However missing from the action are the so called organized political groups. People do not have any expectations from the ruling clique. These groups are responsible for the present horrible plight of the masses; they cannot be expected to apply the balm also.  Apathy of the so called pro-freedom parties whether political or humanitarian is for every body to see, had these groups been little bit more concerned, miseries of people could have been minimized if not removed completely.

No doubt concerned citizens’ effort is laudable. In the absence of this great endeavor of do-gooders one can only imagine, what could have been the plight of hapless victims? However random response to an emergency situation whosoever quick and committed cannot match the reach of an organized effort. Temperamentally we are a crisis driven society, at the time of any calamity natural or man-made no body can match our response, but once urgency is over we lose all  interest. We are not accustomed to a sustained effort. For first fifteen to twenty days, from a politician to a sundry, everybody flocks a martyrs' house. Afterwards hardly anybody takes care of the widow, orphans and old parent of the martyr; they are left at the mercy of time.  While in hospital injured may get some attention, out of the hospital no body is concerned about the troubles being faced by the injured. Individuals cannot be blamed for the absence of an organized and sustained effort; it is organized groups who not only lack commitment but foresight also.  Is it not double whammy for the poor family of an injured person; they have to bear the trauma of suffering of the loved-one and the medical expenses also. Hospital expenses are managed somehow by the family or with the help of individual donations, but what happens to these injured if they happen to be permanently disabled? There are numerous instances wherein injured persons have lost eyesight, and received grievous injury to spinal chord or knee is damaged beyond repair. Who will look after them for the rest of their life, since most of the injured happens to be the teenagers. Why family of the injured should bear the burden alone, if the permanently disabled persons have sacrificed for a collective cause? For a self-centered politician continuous care or rehabilitation of a disabled does not provide a photo opportunity. If not newsworthy, so called towering leaders will seldom bother, they are worried about their self promotion and not plight of a sufferers. It is not criticism for the sake of criticism; Kashmir is enduring a bloody conflict for more than two decades now. Is it not pity that the society has failed to create a social organization, which could automatically respond to socio/medico emergencies?  Not to talk of well oiled social organization, we do not even have an effective ambulance service available which could ferry trauma patients to the hospital in time.

Doctors are of the opinion that in the absence of a proper ambulance service in the valley; more than fifteen critically injured persons may have lost their lives in the ongoing turmoil so far. In the name of ambulances we simply have vehicles painted white with ‘Ambulance’ letters boldly written in red, these even lack the Basic Life Support (BLS) like, Para-medic, oxygen-cylinder, etc.  Trauma experts describe first hour after the injury as ‘Golden Hour’ a prompt response within 60 minutes can make all the difference, ----“here is a golden hour between life and death. If you are critically injured you have less than 60 minutes to survive. You might not die right then; it may be three days or two weeks later -- but something has happened in your body that is irreparable.”  According to some voluntary organizations— “medical knowledge and expertise to administer first aid, and to stabilize these patients enough to survive the journey to Srinagar is not available in the field, a very basic checklist if adopted as practice to stabilize patients before sending them to Srinagar can prove to be very helpful in saving lives. Simple things like ensuring that tourniquets are properly administered, stopping/controlling the bleeding, giving IV lines/fluids, cervical collars, etc, can help in reducing mortality.”

Obviously, 78 day old shutdown now has cast an adverse affect on the vulnerable sections of the society, the daily wage earners being the worst hit. The trading class, transporters and big business houses too have suffered a huge financial loss. Even then the individuals have come forward to help their brethren facing the  brunt of the situation. Yet this effort falls well short of what is really required. According to an informed guess, in normal conditions around 40 thousand families, (roughly 2.5 lakh people) 6/7 percent of the total population of the valley is economically hard-pressed, for their day-to-day needs they are otherwise dependent upon the society. Moreover, 120 thousand families, 8 lakh people live hand to mouth. These are the daily earners with no fixed incomes, earnings if any during the day only enable them to buy food and medicine in the evening. For the first few weeks they had some option to bank on, with the shutdown getting prolonged their support systems are fast vanishing. With more and more days passing by, a million people, 15 to 20 percent of the population will become vulnerable; they may also need some sort of societal help to keep themselves going. Ideal would have been before plunging; the proper support systems should have been worked before. Now is not the time for the debate, it is to act.  Economic distress is a tough challenge. It reminds us of the enormity of the task.  Greater challenge is that nobody sleeps hungry and nobody suffers for want of medicine. One million people are not a small number, however if the 80 percent prepare themselves, they can carry along the rest. If we keep our Eid celebrations simple, the savings can sustain so many in need of help. By the way is it still the time for celebrations, whence children are being killed mercilessly? If this nation has to rise, it is imperative to look after the families of the fallen who sacrificed their today for our better tomorrow along with the economically challenged.   Let us stand up and do what we are ordained by our faith. Let us heed to the call of nation, testing times are the test of our resilience. When going gets tough, only tough gets going!

(Feedback at firdoussyed@yahoo.com)

Lastupdate on : Fri, 27 Aug 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 28 Aug 2010 00:00:00 IST